Former Dartmouth religion professor Hans Penner, who was recently diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer, is a self-proclaimed strong advocate of "death with dignity" legislation currently under consideration by Vermont legislators. The legislation would allow terminally ill patients to both acquire and self-administer life-ending medicine, Penner said in an interview with The Dartmouth.
The legislation, "An Act Relating to Patient Choice and Control at End of Life," is currently under review by the Vermont Committee on Human Services, according to the Vermont legislature's website.
Penner said his interest in the "death with dignity" legislation began several years ago after he read an opinion column in the Burlington Free Press that criticized a similar piece of legislation. Penner decided to write a response letter to the Burlington Free Press and became a board member at Patient Choices Vermont after reading the article. He has been working toward the passage of the legislation ever since, he said.
Penner said his current residence, the Wake Robin Retirement Community, has fueled his passion for the "death with dignity" legislation.
"Living in a retirement community sharpens you," Penner said. "I'm 77 years old, but there are people here who are much older than I am people who are aging much faster than I am, and also people who have been taken over by states of dementia. Living in this environment makes death much more realistic for you."
Advocates of the legislation are hopeful it will pass in this two-year period, Rep. Donna Sweaney, D-Vt., said in an interview with The Dartmouth.
"This legislation has been introduced for the last three bienniums, and as far as I know, it hasn't gone anywhere," she said. "But this biennium it appears that there are enough votes in the House and possibly the Senate for it to pass."
Sweaney is one of 44 sponsors of the proposed legislation, according to the Vermont legislature's website.
Vermont's newly-elected governor, Peter Shumlin, D-Vt., has promised to sign the legislation if it is passed by the House and the Senate, Sweaney said.
Mary Hahn Beerworth, executive director of Vermont Right to Life a policy group that "reject[s] abortion, euthanasia and other actions that deny the right to life," according to the organization's website said she is skeptical about whether the legislation will pass.
"The opposition is fierce and the actual support for the bill is a much smaller group of people," Beerworth said. "There are a lot of different voices moving against this. There are significant majorities in the House, Senate and governorship that are going to make this quite a fight."
Beerworth said that although Vermont Right to Life staunchly opposes the legislation, the bulk of the opposition in Vermont comes from other organizations, including the Vermont Disability Law Project, the Vermont Center for Independent Living and the Vermont Alliance for Ethical Healthcare.
Penner said that other pressing issues due to the current economic climate could impede the passage of the legislation.
"We're hoping it will be passed this year, but it is a bad year given the economy," Penner said. "All the legislators are very busy with the economic situation and budget deficits and so forth, so this year itself is not the best."
Previous versions of the bill failed to pass because they lacked sufficient safeguards that would protect against unintended death, according to Sweaney. Sweaney said she is optimistic that this current bill will pass because it includes several new stipulations that would protect those choosing to end their own life.
"There are now enough restraints built into the law that would prevent anyone from taking medication who lacked the rational capacity to make that decision," Penner said. "For instance, you have to be certified by two physicians that you are in fact in a terminal condition with less than six months to live. You also have to be rational, conscious and in a state anyone would accept as normal."
Penner said neither physicians nor legislators have the right to determine the way in which someone will die.
"Only the person himself or herself has that right," Penner said.
Dick Walters, president of Patient Choices Vermont, said his organization is hosting a series of seminars starting March 2 to increase awareness of the "death with dignity" legislation.
"This coming week, we are hosting George Eighmey, who was the executive director of Compassion and Choices in Oregon for years," Walters said. "People are invited to come and hear how the law has functioned in Oregon for the last 12 years and how we expect that experience to translate in Vermont."
Patient Choice Vermont Board Member David Babbott will also speak at these seminars, Walters said.
